Carrot and Whiskey Soaked Raisin Tea Cakes

Recipe for Carrot and Whiskey Soaked Raisin Tea Cakes by Anisa Sabet, for The Macadames.

So i’ve been having a nightmare baking recently where ALL of my muffins/cakes/cupcakes have been rising unevenly and sloping. SO ANNOYING! Especially when a batch tastes amazing but looks so bad you can’t even photograph them. I honestly felt like crying after this kept happening over and over. I even got our oven serviced but this didn’t seem to make a difference. Grrrr.

So… I set to trolling the internet for days to find the best tips on how to deal with this issue. After trying lots of different things, I have found that turning the fan off in the oven (apparently this can blow air unevenly and cause things to rise unevenly), sifting my flours (always too lazy for that in the past) and not using too much baking powder/soda has helped with this issue. Now I seem to have almost-perfectly risen baked goods with a lovely domed top. Finally.

So I can finally share with you todays recipe, which is for really delicious carrot and whiskey soaked raisin tea cakes. Doesn’t carrot, whiskey and raisin just sound like the loveliest combination? The carrot cake base is kissed with spices and some raw sugar which goes very well with the whiskey soaked raisins. Each mouthful has a nice rich flavour of raisin and whiskey. You are going to love it!

I used half almond meal, half wholemeal spelt flour as I have been getting bored with 100% almond meal recipes and almond meal is just so damn expensive. I really like the added fluffiness from the spelt flour and the moisture and nuttiness of the almond meal. The best of both worlds!

I hope you enjoy this recipe and I would love to know what you think of it.

Don’t forget to hashtag #cookwiththemacadames when making my recipes. I love to see how you went and get a peek at your kitchen table.

Method:

1. In a small bowl, pop the raisins and whiskey. Allow to soak for at least 4 hours or overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 175°C. Spray your muffin/mini cheesecake tin with coconut oil and pop into the fridge to set for 10 minutes. Repeat one more time. This helps the tea cakes pop out without sticking to the sides.

4. In the medium mixing bowl, sift the flour, then whisk through the almond meal, raw sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, baking powder, bi carb soda and salt. Pour the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. You can use a stand mixer if you like. Fold in the raisins and whiskey.

5. Pour into prepared muffin/mini cheesecake tin and bake for 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Be careful not to overcook these.

6. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, and then transfer the loaf to a wire rack to cool completely.

7. To serve: serve warm,with a dusting of icing sugar.

Storage: tea cakes will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.